The Giants were down to their backup, to the backup, to the backup right guard when Dallas Reynolds came into the game for an injured Brandon Mosley in the first quarter. Reynolds was at right guard. James Brewer was at left guard. Kevin Boothe, their starting left guard, was playing center.

Quarterback Eli Manning was behind an offensive line he couldn't have possibly imagined when the season began. Reynolds wasn't even on the roster.

"It's a struggle," Boothe admitted.

Yet Manning survived. The Giants (6-9) survived. They emerged as the overtime winner over a desperate Lions team in a 23-20 slopfest at Ford Field.

Reynolds spent most of the afternoon matched against Detroit's Ndamukong Suh. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle finished with one tackle and two quarterback hurries.

For the Giants, that was a win. Keeping the number of hits on Manning (officially, 5) at a respectable number was a win. They managed to keep their quarterback upright enough to leave Detroit with a victory.

"[Reynolds] had to go battle against Suh and did a nice job of that," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.

It was by no means perfect. The Giants' offensive line certainly had their forgettable moments.

Manning was taken down in the third quarter for a safety and was sacked twice. The Giants also finished with just 41 yards on 21 carries.

But overall, the patchwork line held up just fine, aside from left tackle Will Beatty, who again struggled throughout the contest. Brewer and Reynolds proved they were serviceable emergency options. It's not exactly what was expected coming into the contest against one of the league's better defensive fronts.

“I thought they did a great job,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. “When we needed them to play their best, they did. That’s what you love.”

Manning noted that on two of the biggest plays of the game his line really came through. He called the protection on a key third-down pass in overtime to Rueben Randle the “best protection of the day.” He also mentioned he had ample time to hit Jerrel Jernigan for 15 yards on fourth-and-seven later in the drive.

The Giants were out to prove a point. Coughlin mentioned during his postgame press conference that there was very little positive said about his offensive line prior to the contest.

To the players, it wasn't a big deal that Mosley was supposed to start at right guard with David Diehl missing the contest because of a knee injury. It wasn't that strange that Reynolds was at guard next to Boothe, who was next to Brewer, who was next to Beatty.